PHOENIX — It wasn’t perfect by any means, but a 6-1 victory over the Diamondbacks and two losses that occurred elsewhere made for a good Sunday for the Padres.
Yu Darvish worked through six innings for the 21st consecutive start, and for the seventh time this season did so without allowing a run to become the Padres’ first 15-game winner since Jake Peavy won 19 games in 2007.
Padres hitters fared much better against Ryne Nelson than they had in the right-hander’s major league debut two weeks earlier. Their aggressiveness at the plate Sunday was highlighted by home runs by Manny Machado and Juan Soto and continued a trend that began after another pitcher making his debut embarrassed them here Thursday.
A scolding by their manager, a team meeting and multiple discussions among themselves about their focus, their priorities and the need for urgency followed Drey Jameson shutting them out over seven innings at the start of a 4-0 loss in the series opener.
Crucially, three consecutive victories followed as well.
Sunday’s win increased the Padres’ standing in the National League wild card chase.
The Phillies and Brewers both lost, which means the Padres moved into the NL’s fifth (of six) playoff spots, a half-game ahead of the Phillies and 2½ games ahead of the Brewers.
The Padres, who have 15 games remaining in the regular season, are off today before beginning a three-game series Tuesday against the Cardinals at Petco Park.
Darvish began the season with six hitless innings here April 7. The Padres lost that day when two relievers surrendered four runs in the ninth inning. They won his other four starts against Arizona with Darvish going at least six innings and getting the decision in each.
He allowed 15 hits, walked 12 and posted a 1.97 ERA over 32 innings against them. In two starts at Chase Field, he allowed just one hit and one walk in 12 innings.
The walk came with one out in the fifth inning Sunday, which was when Darvish’s nascent perfect-game and no-hit bid came to a quick and cruel end. Darvish threw one ball outside the strike zone but an inexplicably erroneous series of calls by home plate umpire Alex MacKay produced the walk and then Corbin Carroll flared a single to left.
After Alek Thomas flied out to left field, Darvish had a chopper to the right of the mound go off and under his glove to load the bases.
The inning ended when Geraldo Perdomo, who had fouled off three full-count pitches watched a slider on the outside corner that was called strike three. Perdomo protested MacKay, but unlike the three calls in the earlier walk to Ketel Marte and the third ball MacKay called in Perdomo’s plate appearance, the umpire had gotten the strike call correct.
Darvish completed his National League-leading 23rd quality start by getting through the sixth in order.
Robert Suarez pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and Adrian Morejón worked a perfect eighth before allowing a run in the ninth.
The Padres did not wait to score against Nelson, something they had not done in his seven innings at Petco Park on Sept 5.
Nelson shut out the Dodgers for six innings in his second start and entered Sunday’s game having not allowed a run in a Diamondbacks-record 13 innings at the start of his career.
That streak was over after one out Sunday when Soto drew a one-out walk and Machado lined a home run into the seat beyond left field.
Nelson never threw more than 20 pitches in an inning to the Padres or more than 18 to the Dodgers.
He threw 28 in the first inning Sunday and had thrown 85 pitches when he left the game after being hit in the throwing arm by a comebacker from Brandon Drury at the start of the sixth inning.
Nelson had also allowed four runs.
The Padres added on in the third when Jurickson Profar singled, went to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Nelson and scored on Drury’s sacrifice fly.
Soto’s first home run since Aug. 28 gave the Padres a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning, and after Jake Cronenworth drove in Machado with a sacrifice fly in the eighth, Soto made it 6-0 with an RBI double that scored Austin Nola in the ninth.
